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The American company Stripe announced on October 15, the conclusion of an agreement to acquire the Nigerian online payment platform Paystack. The amount of the transaction was not disclosed. However, media quoting officials from both companies assure that the deal was concluded for more than $200 million.
Stripe is a technology company that develops payment tools for its customer base made of startups and listed companies. In 2018, Stripe led an $8 million Series A financing round for Paystack.
By acquiring the Nigerian fintech co-founded in 2015 by Shola Akinlade and Ezra Olubi, Stripe is planning its expansion in Africa where “online commerce in the region is growing 21% year-on-year, 75% faster than the global average,” the Stripe team said in a briefing note.
The U.S. company will not directly integrate Paystack into its portfolio of companies. The Nigerian firm, whose services are used by more than 60,000 companies in Nigeria and Ghana, will continue to operate independently as it pursues its expansion plan on the continent.
“Paystack has achieved in just five years what many companies could not achieve in decades. This acquisition gives Paystack the resources to develop new products, support more companies, and consolidate the hyper-fragmented African payments market,” said Matt Henderson, Stripe’s Sales Manager for Europe, Middle East, and Africa.
Paystack’s presence in Nigeria, Ghana, and soon in South Africa had already mobilized more than $10 million before the agreement with Stripe.
(Ecofin Agency)
